Naruhiko Higashikuni

Naruhiko Higashikuni (3 December 1887-20 January 1990) was the Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August to 9 October 1945, succeeding Kantaro Suzuki and preceding Kijuro Shidehara.

Biography
Naruhiko Higashikuni was born on 3 December 1887 in Kyoto, and he was a prince from one of the branches of the Imperial House of Japan. In 1908, he graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and studied at Saint-Cyr and the Ecole Polytechnique in France. In 1930, upon his return to Japan, he was made a Major-General, and Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe wanted to make him the new Prime Minister after his 1941 retirement due to his royal blood; however, Emperor Hirohito did not want the imperial family to be blamed if Naruhiko had any failures. On 17 August 1945 he was elected as the new Prime Minister after Kantaro Suzuki's resignation, and he accepted the Potsdam Declaration and made peace with the United States, ending World War II. Naruhiko asked Hirohito to revoke his noble titles and make him a commoner in 1946, but Hirohito refused; in 1947, he lost his titles when the United States abolished the nobility system. In 1990, he died at the age of 102, the last surviving full General of the Imperial Japanese Army.